Repsol SA, Madrid, which signed an offshore E&P contract with oil regulator Perupetro SA in March 1995 for Block Z-29 offshore in the Trujillo basin, has returned the area to Perupetro after drilling two dry holes last year.
Repsol held 40% of the contract in partnership with YPF SA, Argentina, 25%; Ranger Oil, Calgary, 15%; and Brasoil, Brazil, 20%.
Perupetro has divided the block in two and is offering the parts as Blocks 15 and 16 together with 14 other blocks off Peru between Tumbes in the far north and Moquegua in the south (OGJ, Dec. 7, 1998, p. 87). Repsol continues to operate Block 32 in the Marañon basin, where it expects to drill a wildcat before the end of the third quarter this year, Block 33 alongside the North Peruvian Pipeline, and Block 35 in the Ucayali basin. It is also the operator for Perez Companc, Argentina, on neighboring Block 34. All four blocks are in the early exploration stage.
Repsol additionally is the main shareholder and operator in Peru's La Pampilla refinery privatized in 1996 and a network of 100 service stations.
